So, far it has been going fantastic. Shining Force II was my halfway point, so it's time to start the second half. It's been a great way to push me over the edge to play some games and I really liked the variety in my selection.

Knocked out Coryoon on PC Engine and Flashgal for arcade. Verbiage for Flashgal will be in the TR thread.

From my Hardcore Retro Gaming post:

I just got my PC Engine-to-PSX controller adapter in. Wow, what a difference having something resembling a good d-pad makes. The system I ordered had a third-party controller with it, with a very stiff d-pad. It actually hurt to use at times! I tested it with a game that bested me with the old controller, Coryoon: Child of Dragon. If I must stoop to the term, it's a "cute-'em-up" from Naxat Soft starring a cutesy little dragon who apparently wants to change the princess (his owner?) back into an adult after she was magically changed by the big bad of the game.

The game itself finds you blasting through eight stages, of somewhat increasing difficulty. I say that because most of the time, staying alive only requires judicious grabbing of powerups when you can snag them (a shot upgrade gives you a hit buffer). The bosses range from easy to "aw, crap, I died again, hope I don't run out of lives this time!" That's where strategic snagging of powerups really helps.

The boss that ended my run the first time also threatened to end it this time, despite my having a better controller. It takes the form of a snake-like enemy in the second form, and shoots fire at you rather consistently. You have to keep moving, and it's only vulnerable in the head. Thankfully, dropping a boss will usually net you two or three extra lives, so by that point, you should have a store built up. He gave me more trouble in the re-fight, for whatever reason.

Other than that, seeing the colorful stages and enemies turns out to be rather neat, like most in this genre. The only complaint I have revolves around the colorful visuals. Sure, that can be a good thing, but parsing the on-screen action can be really tough! That's one of the reasons the game has to be somewhat forgiving.

Anyway, completely copies apparently sell for around $300 these days. I will absolutely, definitely say that this game is not worth that. It was probably a 7/10. That being said, feel free to go check it out if you enjoy (mostly) breezy shooters with a cute aesthetic.

Coryoon was built on a really well-programmed engine, so much so that Hudson used that same engine for the first Air Zonk title. The music driver is particularly good, though it does suck up a lot of system CPU time. And yet the gameplay and graphical effects are fast and furious despite the music driver's overhead.

Bit.Trip Beat is the first game in the Bit.Trip series. Originally released on Nintendo's WiiWare service, the success of the game and the series it spawned saw ports to multiple platforms. What makes Bit.Trip Beat so awesome is that its extreme simplicity is complemented by extreme addictivity.

Beat essentially plays like someone said "What if we took Pong and made it a rhythm game?" You play as a paddle on the left side of the screen and have to bounce dots back as they come from the right side. Simple, yeah? There's only three levels, but each one is a marked increase in difficulty. You end up with dots that come back to you until you hit them multiple times, dots that burst into multiple dots, and even legit boss encounters. In addition to all of that, the dots fall in rhythm with the music so that every time you hit one back, the sound effect adds to the melody. It's a very simple concept, but it's a lot deeper than you first think.

The game has a very Atari 2600 aesthetic, but the visuals just serve a purpose; the star of the show here is the music. The soundtrack is absolutely phenomenal. I can't speak for the controls on other platforms, but tilting the Wiimote up and down to move your paddle feels so fluid and natural. The Wii really was the perfect platform for this game. I've played around with it on Vita a little bit, and while tilting the Vita up and down certainly works, it feels a lot more natural on the Wii. Whether it actually does perform better on the Wii or it's just my console bias speaking, I can't say, but it's a great game regardless.

Bit.Trip Beat is an inconspicuous little game that ended up garnering a cult following and fairly prolific series, and once you play it, it's not at all hard to see why. It takes the simple Pong formula, adds rhythm game mechanics, and turns it into something wholly new and addicting. It may not have the flashiest graphics, compelling story, or intricate gameplay, but it's fun, it's addicting, and it's got a killer soundtrack. I have zero problem recommending this game especially given how easily available it is.

marurun wrote:Coryoon was built on a really well-programmed engine, so much so that Hudson used that same engine for the first Air Zonk title. The music driver is particularly good, though it does suck up a lot of system CPU time. And yet the gameplay and graphical effects are fast and furious despite the music driver's overhead.

Oh, I didn't know they reused that engine. I haven't messed with Air Zonk yet. Very cool to know!

Super cool game. Beat the hell out of me though; so, nice work getting through it. I love Commander Video - my wife made me a Commander Video coffee mug a few years ago - and I really should revisit it. If only I could play it with an Atari paddle controller...

Super cool game. Beat the hell out of me though; so, nice work getting through it. I love Commander Video - my wife made me a Commander Video coffee mug a few years ago - and I really should revisit it. If only I could play it with an Atari paddle controller...

Dude, I kept thinking that exact same thing about the paddle. I got through the first level no problem, and while it was tough, I got through the second level on my first try, but the endboss in the last level took me a few tries.